Careers in Psychology

Counseling, Clinical Psychology, and More

Numerous careers are available in counseling/social services, as well as business, medicine, education, government, and law. Many more career options and advancement are possible with graduate study, and all of our students are encouraged to prepare for graduate work. Chaminade also offers a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology.

Career Tracks

Counseling Psychology and Social Work:Counseling psychologists foster and improve human functioning by helping people solve the problems, make the decisions, and cope with the stresses of everyday life. Employment could be in healthcare institutions, such as community mental health centers, Veterans Administrations hospitals, or private clinics dealing with issues such as drug abuse, eating disorders, family adjustment issues, smoking, etc. Another career option to consider if you're interested in counseling is social work, with employment available in numerous government agencies.There are a variety of subfields in social work. Social workers who practice psychotherapy are usually called either clinical social workers or psychiatric social workers. Licensure is needed for these careers.

Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychologists assess and treat people's mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, with these disorders ranging from mild to severe problems. They work in both academic institutions and health care settings such as clinics, community mental health centers, hospitals, prisons, and private practice.

Community Psychology: Community psychologists are concerned with everyday behavior in natural settings - the home, the neighborhood, and the workplace. They also work to promote health and prevent disorders. Whereas clinical psychologists tend to focus on individuals who show signs of maladaptive behavior, most community psychologists concentrate their efforts on groups of people who are not mentally ill.

Developmental Psychology: Developmental psychologists study human development across the life span. They are interested in the description, measurement, and explanation of age-related changes in behaviors such as aggression, moral development, language development, and others. With a bachelor's and master's level training in developmental psychology, you might work in applied settings such as day care centers and youth group programs, work with toy companies, parent education programs, hospital and child life programs, and museums, and evaluate educational television.

Educational Psychology: Educational psychologists study how people learn. They design the methods and materials used to educate people of all ages. Many educational psychologists have a Ph.D. and work in universities, in both psychology departments and schools of education.

Environmental Psychology: Environmental psychologists study the ways people and the physical environments influence each other. These environments may range from homes and offices to urban areas and regions. Environmental psychologists may do basic research,

Experimental Psychology: "Experimental psychologist" is a general title applied to a diverse group of psychologists who conduct research on and often teach about a variety of basic behavioral processes. These processes may include learning, sensation, perception, human performance, motivation, memory, language, thinking, and communication as well as the physiological processes underlying behaviors such as eating, reading, and problem solving.

Family Psychology: Family psychologists are practitioners, researchers, and educators concerned with the prevention of family conflict, the treatment of marital and family problems, and the maintenance of normal family functioning. Family psychologists are often employed in medical schools, hospitals, private practice, family institutes and community agencies.